Memorial Martyrs of Algeria: Costly Dialogue with Islam
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Memorial Martyrs of Algeria: Costly Dialogue with Islam

ByFons

When in May 1996 the shocking news of the murder at Tibhirine, Algeria, of a community of seven Trappist monks hit the headlines the subsequent publication of the moving ‘Testament’ of Christian de Chergé, the prior of that community, opened a window on the singular originality of this community’s involvement with its Muslim neighbours. The…

Safeguarding: African Scholars Highlight Clericalism and Patriarchy
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Safeguarding: African Scholars Highlight Clericalism and Patriarchy

ByFons

(Sr Ngalula): “The faithful who have assimilated clericalism reproduce the same deviant behaviors of clerics when they have positions of responsibility in the Church. They also do not accuse the clerics of abuses in the Church and society, and teach that to speak badly of a cleric is a sin and an attack on the…

April 1994 – Remembering the Rwandan Genocide
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April 1994 – Remembering the Rwandan Genocide

ByFons

At the time of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, the Mufti of Rwanda, the most respected Muslim leader in the country, issued a fatwa forbidding Muslims from participating in the killing of the Tutsi. As the country became a slaughterhouse, mosques became places of refuge where Muslims and Christians, Hutus and Tutsis came together to protect…

Pasolini’s The Gospel According to St. Matthew
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Pasolini’s The Gospel According to St. Matthew

ByFons

Some of the most intriguing artistic tributes to faith and religion come from nonbelievers. A Man For All Seasons, the great drama of the life and martyrdom of St. Thomas More, was written for the stage and screen by the non-Christian Robert Bolt. The story of The Song of Bernadette, the Marian visionary of Lourdes, was first…

Holy Week: Yearly Spike in Anti-Christian Violence
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Holy Week: Yearly Spike in Anti-Christian Violence

ByFons

Although Christians are simply one among a staggering set of vulnerable minority groups around the world exposed to hatred and persecution, there remains a sort of wall of silence around their suffering. In part, that’s because the people who set the tone in global politics and the media generally live in the affluent West, where…

Francis Makuba MHM Reports on Death of Tanzanian President John Magufuli
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Francis Makuba MHM Reports on Death of Tanzanian President John Magufuli

ByFons

THE ‘BULLDOZER’ PRESIDENT PASSES ON. On Thursday 18th   March 2021, a day before the solemnity of St. Joseph, the Tanzanians woke up to the news that President John Pombe Joseph Magufuli had passed on the evening before. The announcement had been done in the late hours of the night by the then Vice President Samia…

Feast of St Joseph, Patron Saint of the Mill Hill Missionaries
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Feast of St Joseph, Patron Saint of the Mill Hill Missionaries

ByFons

Devotion to St Joseph is a relatively recent development in the Church and it seems to be gaining ground. Pope Francis included the spikenard, the emblem of St Joseph, on his coat of arms and stipulated in one of his first pontifical acts that Joseph’s name follow that of Mary’s in all the eucharistic prayers,…

Novena to St. Joseph: Reflection – St. Joseph the Spice of Life
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Novena to St. Joseph: Reflection – St. Joseph the Spice of Life

ByFons

Mission in Ministry 2021:  Spiritual Reflection,  “Saint Joseph the Spice of Life” Knock Shrine-Ireland Living in this age of utilitarian values we are led to view things from a narrow and selfish perspective. This applies not only to our use of the earth’s resources, but sadly it can even apply to our relationship with people….